The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is set to release the results of 379,997 candidates who sat for the rescheduled Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) between Friday and Monday, following nationwide outrage over technical failures and score discrepancies.
JAMB’s spokesperson, Dr. Fabian Benjamin, confirmed the development on Monday. “The results of the candidates who took the rescheduled exam will be released on Wednesday,” he stated.
The decision to conduct a resit stemmed from what JAMB described as unprecedented technical and human errors, particularly affecting candidates in Lagos and the South-East. These glitches, which led to widespread score distortions and mass failure, sparked a storm of criticism and distrust in the board’s operations.
In a rare moment of accountability, JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, openly admitted the flaws and assumed full responsibility, characterising the situation as “sabotage.” He disclosed that 206,610 candidates in Lagos and 173,387 in the South-East were directly impacted by the anomalies.
“We were sabotaged from within. It was a painful moment, and I take full responsibility,” Oloyede said, confirming that affected candidates had been notified by SMS for the rescheduled examination which commenced last Thursday.
However, the damage control measures have done little to calm tensions.
A political firestorm erupted after the South-East Caucus of the House of Representatives, in a strongly worded statement, demanded Oloyede’s immediate resignation, branding JAMB’s handling of the 2025 UTME as a “catastrophic institutional failure.”
“On May 14, 2025, the Registrar of JAMB admitted publicly that a so-called ‘technical glitch’ had affected approximately 379,997 out of 1.9 million candidates, necessitating a resit. Shockingly, the five South-Eastern states were disproportionately affected,” the lawmakers, led by Hon. Iduma Igariwey (PDP, Ebonyi), said.
The caucus slammed JAMB for its poor crisis communication, short notice to candidates, and scheduling conflicts with the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exams, all of which subjected students to “needless psychological trauma.”
“JAMB’s knee-jerk, fire-brigade approach is not only grossly inadequate but also deeply inconsiderate of the academic calendar and students’ mental wellbeing,” the statement read.
The lawmakers further demanded the immediate cancellation of the 2025 UTME, calling for an entirely new schedule after the conclusion of WAEC and NECO examinations to allow candidates ample preparation time and restore public trust.
As Nigeria awaits the release of the rescheduled UTME results, the credibility of the country’s foremost examination body hangs in the balance—along with the future of nearly 400,000 hopeful university applicants.
PIONEER NEWS 